Gleason: QB Flacco deserves to be called an elite

Tuesday

Feb 5, 2013 at 2:00 AM

Forget elite. The buzzword surrounding Giants quarterback Eli Manning for much of the 2007 season was the same word attached to him since he assumed the starting job from Kurt Warner midway through his rookie season of 2004.

KEVIN GLEASON

Forget elite. The buzzword surrounding Giants quarterback Eli Manning for much of the 2007 season was the same word attached to him since he assumed the starting job from Kurt Warner midway through his rookie season of 2004.

Inconsistent.

Then Manning figured it out. He slowly gained confidence in the '07 playoffs leading to his career-defining game against the unbeaten Patriots in Glendale, Ariz. Manning would endure periods of inconsistency before earning another Super Bowl title and game MVP last season. But he is now generally regarded as an elite, not inconsistent, NFL quarterback.

Joe Flacco's career has paralleled Manning's in many ways. He came out of college four years later than Manning, but quickly built a sturdy playoff résumé like Manning. And Flacco, like Manning early in his career, was viewed as a good but flawed NFL quarterback.

In fact, Manning and Flacco often were paired in conversations discussing that second-tier of big-league QBs.

Until these playoffs.

Manning and Flacco belong in the same grouping once again. Only this time, they deserve spots in the top 10.

Flacco completed his figuring-out process on Sunday in New Orleans. He capped a brilliant postseason by leading the Ravens to an upset of the 49ers for the Super Bowl title.

Flacco and Manning typify the learning curve for NFL quarterbacks, the toughest position in sports. Yet in the opposing team's offensive huddle on Sunday stood Colin Kaepernick, representing a new-wave of electrifying young quarterbacks taking the league to another level.

Kaepernick, and not Flacco, would have been Super Bowl MVP if not for a handful of plays that decided the outcome. Kaepernick was terrific despite a few mistakes, taking the 49ers from a 22-point deficit to within a gutsy goal-line stand by Baltimore in the final minutes.

Kaepernick likely will find his way to the big game again. Flacco has a lot of years to make it back, too. But unlike a few years ago, when only a handful of quarterbacks and teams seemed capable of winning the big one, many more programs have big-time shots at a ring in the coming years.

Following Kaepernick on the pecking order are Seattle's Russell Wilson and Washington's Robert Griffin III, assuming he returns from his knee injury to near 100 percent. Both players arrived in the playoffs this season.

The 2012 season was filled with discussion of the Saints' bounty scandal and potential long-term effects of concussions. There has been talk of head injuries, and league rules designed to minimize them, eventually dipping into the game's popularity.

But Kaepernick and fellow youngsters calling the shots, and the offbeat offenses they're directing, have added more excitement and intrigue into the NFL than in recent memory.

Manning and Flacco help highlight the other side of the fascinating dichotomy as classic dropback quarterbacks. It will be fun to watch teams try to win with drastically different types of players under center. Flacco can be safely added to the list of elites. The list could become quite lengthy in the coming years.